Sgt: Explosive at home similar to London bombing

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — A Southern California man who blew off four fingers while mixing explosives in a home that doubled as a day care center had made a volatile compound similar to the one used in the 2005 London subway bombings, a sheriff’s official said.

Benjamin Kuzelka, 23, made triacetone triperoxide, a very volatile compound, and was in the garage handling an unstable liquid when it exploded, Sgt. Pat Chavez told the Riverside Press-Enterprise in a story published Friday.

Triacetone triperoxide is similar to the material used in the 2005 terrorist attack on the London subway system that killed 56 people, authorities said.

But Chavez said there was no immediate indication of any link to terrorism. He said Kuzelka, who remains hospitalized with wounds to his hand, face and chest, told investigators he had researched bomb-making online and was trying it at home for fun.

Investigators also found a copy of the “Anarchist Cookbook,” a book written by Vietnam War protester William Powell in 1970 that includes bomb-making recipes, Chavez said.

Kuzelka’s mother, Rebecca, and younger brother, Grey, were arrested Thursday on suspicion of manufacturing illegal explosives, illegal growing of marijuana and child endangerment. Kuzelka will be arrested when he recovers, authorities have said.

Deputies found explosives and a sophisticated marijuana farm at the property, which doubles as the state-licensed Kuzelka Family Day Care, after Benjamin Kuzelka arrived at a hospital saying he’d shot himself in the hand. His injuries were inconsistent with a gunshot wound, however, and doctors notified the sheriff’s department.

Deputies later found one of Kuzelka’s fingers in the garage, in a tool box, Chavez said.

Kuzelka’s 21-year-old brother tried to clean up and moved the bomb-making materials outside before deputies arrived, authorities said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the day care center had been inspected recently or what previous inspections found.

A spokeswoman with the state Department of Social Services did not return calls Friday, which was a furlough day for state employees because of budget cuts.

A spokesperson from the governor’s office also did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.

Resident Nicole Kirkpatrick said she has taken a neighbor’s child to the Kuzelka day care center several times and had been in the house but did not notice anything unusual.

“I really want to know what that guy was going to do with that stuff,” she told the newspaper. “Maybe he was just a kid messing around. I really want to know what this person was going to do.”